Epic of Ice Dragon: Reborn As An Ice Dragon With A System

Chapter 2409: Clash Of Venerables II [45]

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Yuki glanced at the jewel in her hand, wondering where the souls could have gone. She sighed briefly as the crystal fragment dissolved into her soul, deepening her connection to the decaying goddess.

"So he's gone? To think he would gift us that…" Miranda murmured in surprise.

"I'm shocked too," Benladann nodded. "I thought he was just a villain, but he showed some… honor? Maybe he recognized us. I can't quite tell."

"He said his master sold his soul to the demon Drake is fighting," Andromeda recalled.

"Hajun uses Oda Nobunaga as his vessel because he could never leave Naraka, the hell of Zipangu, on his own," Yuki explained. "He embodied everything evil and wicked, so the world itself rejected him. The laws forbade it. He could never emerge from Hell alone… until Nobunaga was born. Nobunaga became his perfect vessel, granting him the power to reach Heaven alongside Susanoo, where they slew her—Amaterasu. Now this ancient conflict is finally reaching its end, after all these years."

"Yeah… Let's hope Drake can handle him," Miranda said. "I'm sure he will. Do you feel any stronger?"

"I do," Yuki replied. "There's still one missing piece—the one Hajun himself holds—but with this, I believe it's enough."

"Really? I thought there were only four pieces. So there's a fifth?" Benladann asked.

"How does that work?" Miranda added.

"I was confused at first too," Yuki admitted with a faint laugh. "What Mitsuhide gave me isn't the tear itself. It's a crystal he harvested from Amaterasu's decaying body and kept for himself. He planned to control her corpse and rebel against Nobunaga someday, but he never did… until now."

"I see. That was his plan all along…" Benladann murmured. "Yet he seemed to truly love his lord. I guess betrayal wasn't something he could bring himself to do until he was already dying."

"I remember a lot from my previous life… and the life before that," Yuki continued quietly. "I was from Earth. I loved Japanese history and mythology. Akechi Mitsuhide was Oda Nobunaga's trusted general, the man who ultimately betrayed him and forced him to commit seppuku—honorable suicide."

"Oh…" Benladann said softly. "I know there was a country called Japan, but I never learned any of that."

"Me neither. We were from America, heh," Miranda chuckled. "Well, actually I was from Africa first, though I never really got to know the people there."

"That's all right," Yuki shrugged. "It's ancient history now… but I like to think something good came out of this strange world born from my past life's obsession with these figures. This time, Mitsuhide never betrayed his master the way he once did. Perhaps because this Nobunaga was a true warrior and comrade, not the arrogant noble Mitsuhide grew to resent."

"I suppose so," Benladann smiled. "If you look at it on the bright side…"

"Mama! Aunties! The giant thing is moving!" Drakda shouted.

"It's coming!" Benladra called.

"It's recovering slowly though… she looks exhausted," Kate observed, gazing at the Decaying Goddess with sorrow. "Is she okay?"

"GRAAAAHHH… AAAAHHHHHHH!"

The Decaying Goddess began crawling toward them. The blazing chains of Karmic Naraka still forced her to fight, even though she clearly wanted something else.

She fixed her empty eyes on Yuki, miasma streaming down like tears.

"I'll handle this. Yudra, come with me, dear. Let's go meet her. She's… well, your auntie."

"Oooohhh!"

Yudra flew to Yuki's side. The child sensed the connection between the three of them but didn't yet understand that she, like her mother, was a fragment of Amaterasu's original soul reborn.

"Wait, Yuki! Isn't it too dangerous? What if you get hurt?" Benladann hurried forward with the others, staying protectively behind her.

"Thank you for worrying, but I'll be fine," Yuki smiled back at them. She turned to the towering figure whose massive claws were slowly reaching out. "With Yudra here… we can do this, right, baby girl?"

"Awaaahh!"

Yudra roared, still in her large dragon form. Her hybrid archetype and rainbow dragon king forms had faded—they were far too draining—but she still possessed tremendous power. Her aura merged with her mother's, forming a radiant sunray symbol that summoned the spiritual form of the Solar Empress Archetype above them.

"Let's do this, dear."

"Oowwwh!"

Yuki rested her hand on Yudra's fluffy back, feeling her daughter's warmth. Together, their light pierced the burning chains binding the Decaying Goddess.

Countless golden beams shattered the chains in an instant.

There was no resistance, no struggle.

Their power had simply grown too great.

"A-AAAAAHHH? OOOHH… UUUGH… GUUUHHH…"

Freed at last, the Decaying Goddess took a few unsteady steps forward, then tripped over her own feet and collapsed. She clutched her head and wept.

"You keep crying… You don't want to fight us anymore?" Yuki asked gently. "Do you feel something?"

"UUUUHHH… WAAHHH…"

The goddess could not stop. She suffered constant pain—not only physically, but the deeper agony of betrayal and rejection. It had shattered her.

"Waaawaah? Awuuh?"

Yudra tilted her head, looking heartbroken for the creature, and flew closer.

"Yudra, wait!"

Yuki followed quickly. The goddess's dry, mummified face—terrifying and grotesque—turned toward the small, fluffy dragon.

"AAAHH…?"

"Awuuh…? Wuuuh?"

"AAAUUUHH…"

"Waaah! Wah, wah, wah!"

"AAAEEHH?"

Yudra grinned and fluttered around her, flapping her soft wings playfully to coax a smile.

"AAHH…"

The goddess watched in silence.

Slowly, the sobs quieted. She lifted a skeletal hand, wiped away the miasma tears, and stilled.

Yudra had eased her sorrow, if only a little.

Yuki glanced up at the Solar Empress, the archetype born from her past-life memories, who spoke much like Amaterasu herself.

"What do I do now? Can you guide me?"

"I'm not the one who must act. You are," the empress replied. "In the end, I am merely your memories and willpower given form. This is your choice, Yuki."

"But…"

"Are you afraid? That being… is you."

"It's the part I left behind. All of it."

"The part that suffered the most while you, a fragment of her soul, were allowed to reincarnate without memories and begin again."

"Then what should I do…?"

"Honestly, girl. You're me. You already know."

Yuki watched her daughter nuzzle the goddess. The goddess's long, withered fingers moved hesitantly, then gently stroked the dragon's fur.

It was warm.

For the first time in eons, she felt less alone.

"She just wants to remember the warmth of life…"

Yuki understood the small, desperate wish at once.

She flew forward and wrapped her arms around the goddess' chest.

"I'm sorry I didn't come sooner. I'm truly sorry."

"UUHH… AAAUUH…"

The giant goddess froze, stunned, as Yuki embraced her.

"Awaah!"

Yudra joined in, pressing close despite the black miasma staining her white fur.

"We are one and the same, even after all this time."

"You are my body… and I am your soul. Even after we died, you remained here, trapped. I'm so sorry for everything you endured."

"UUUHHH…"

"This little girl… she's my daughter. Our daughter. Isn't that wonderful?"

"A-AAHH…?"

The goddess' jaws parted in wonder. This tiny bundle of warmth and love was her daughter.

The one thing she had always longed for—a real family, born from her own heart, not conjured by incomprehensible magic.

"Mama?" Yudra tilted her head.

"She's not just your auntie," Yuki said softly. "Technically, she's me. She's your mom too."

"Uuuhhh… Mama!"

Yudra laughed and threw herself into the goddess's arms, wrapping her fluffy wings around her.

"A-AAAHH… UUHH…"

Happy tears spilled from the goddess' hollow eyes.

She opened her arms wide and pulled both Yuki and Yudra into a trembling embrace.

"UUUGH… THA…"

"Eh?!"

Yuki heard it, a word, faint and broken, yet unmistakable.

Even without a proper voice, she was trying.

"THA… THANK… THANK… YOU… UUUHH…"

"After thousands of years… I'm back." Yuki smiled through her own tears. "Come on, let's become one again. Let's live the life we deserve, with our daughter and our husband. All right?"

"UUUHH…"

The goddess nodded, a fragile, hopeful gesture.

Then her body began to crumble into black ashes that drifted away on the wind.

FLASH!

For one brief, radiant moment, she smiled—the faint, dry smile her ruined face could still offer.

Sunlight poured over her, dissolving the decay.

And everyone saw her true form.

A young, joyful Amaterasu—pale skin, long black hair, glowing golden eyes—stood there, tears of happiness streaming down her cheeks.

At the end of her endless journey.

After eons of betrayal, death, and waiting.

Her soul had returned, bearing a daughter and a loving husband.

At last, she had found her happily ever after.

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